The disclosure relates generally to a detector assembly, and more particularly to a two-dimensional collimator grid, used in a detector assembly of a computed tomography imaging system.
Generally, a computed tomography (herein also referred as “CT”) imaging system is utilized for a wide variety of imaging applications, such as medical imaging, and non-medical industrial imaging. In the medical imaging domain, for example, the CT imaging system is generally configured to transmit x-ray beams through a structure, such as a human body, to detect and diagnose abnormalities, such as tumors. The x-ray beams are subsequently received and processed in the CT imaging system to generate a three-dimensional image of the body structure that can be analyzed by clinicians as a diagnostic aid.
Typically, the CT imaging system includes an image detector assembly for receiving x-ray beams passed through the human body. The image detector assembly includes a collimator grid designed to reduce x-ray beams scatter and also to shield the underlying components of the image detector assembly from undesirable exposure. Currently, collimator grids are two-dimensional (herein also referred as “2D”) arrays that are assembled from thin, and long metal blades and fins, such as tungsten blades, and intersecting fins that are approximately perpendicular to a body of each blade. The process of assembling a 2D collimator requires many repetitive steps, and the cost of assembling the collimator may increase the overall cost of the image detector assembly. Further, the current 2D collimator design is not easily extended to a wider range of image detectors because of the mechanical stability of the blades in the collimator, particularly under the conditions of high centripetal acceleration encountered in a rotating CT imaging system.